Benson in the Orlando paper today says JMU is out of the running but he also says the goal is still to get to 12 football teams. So I guess the idea of staying at 11 and letting Idaho go in a couple of years is not on the agenda.

So before June 1 now we are at
1. invite Liberty as an all sports member
2. invite UMass as a FB only member and probably NMSU as all sports

No one else seems ready to move so our choices seem to be the 2 I listed above.

(04-16-2014 12:01 PM)GaSoEagle Wrote: Benson in the Orlando paper today says JMU is out of the running but he also says the goal is still to get to 12 football teams. So I guess the idea of staying at 11 and letting Idaho go in a couple of years is not on the agenda.

So before June 1 now we are at
1. invite Liberty as an all sports member
2. invite UMass as a FB only member and probably NMSU as all sports

No one else seems ready to move so our choices seem to be the 2 I listed above.

It sounds like our administration wants this to happen. With half the funding commited, we'll need a commercial sponsor for the other half. If they can make this happen I'm betting we'll be able to commit by 1 June.

(04-16-2014 12:09 PM)EKUSteve Wrote: It sounds like our administration wants this to happen. With half the funding commited, we'll need a commercial sponsor for the other half. If they can make this happen I'm betting we'll be able to commit by 1 June.

(04-16-2014 12:09 PM)EKUSteve Wrote: It sounds like our administration wants this to happen. With half the funding commited, we'll need a commercial sponsor for the other half. If they can make this happen I'm betting we'll be able to commit by 1 June.

It’s no secret the Sun Belt Conference is actively looking at membership expansion, but one school – James Madison University – has removed itself from contention according to the league’s commissioner.

“It appears they made a decision to stay FCS,” Sun Belt commissioner Karl Benson said Tuesday during a stop in Orlando for the announcement of the creation of the Cure Bowl. “We never offered an invitation and we never extended an invitation either formal or informal.

“We are well aware of the changing scene within our conference as well as nationally,” Alger said in a statement on the school’s website. “In response, we have engaged in a rigorous analysis of our athletic profile within the context of our strategic planning process.

“…Consistent with these values and principles and the ongoing issue of conference alignment, JMU will not pursue or accept an invitation from a conference that does not meet our criteria. If we do receive an offer consistent with our established values, we are prepared to review it and make a recommendation to the Board of Visitors. This process is ongoing and will require continued support on the part of the university, students, faculty, staff, coaches, alumni, and fans.”

The school had indicated in the past it was happy as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association of the FCS.

Benson, meanwhile, said the league has been looking to add another school – one that plays football – so it could increase its current membership from 11 to 12. The NCAA regulates that conferences must have at least 12 members to be able to host a football championship game.

A year ago at this time, the Sun Belt announced the additions of Appalachian State and Georgia Southern to the league. Those moves were going to allow the league its championship, but Western Kentucky’s decision to leave for Conference USA, put those plans on hold.

“We definitely want to get to 12,” Benson added. “Our goal is to get to 12 and get a championship game. We know we’re not going to get there for ’14, whether we get there for ’15 is still unknown. We want to be selective and we want to make sure we get the right university.”

Benson said the 11 football-playing schools and the two that don’t play football – University of Arkansas-Little Rock and the University of Texas at Arlington – are committed to moving forward and get better.

“We want to make sure we get the right university that cannot just fill out a spot, but to bring value with them,” Benson adding that the league does have a short list of possible expansion candidates

Getting to 12 teams and a CCG is not as easy as it may seem, especially if the SBC wants to be choosey.

Despite travel, Idaho just became a very important element to the SBC 12 team stategy for 2015 and beyond.

I still don't totally understand everyone's dislike of having Idaho in the SBC. I know about the travel and conference footprints, etc.. But, really it's travel once every two years, if that. Is that really too much?

(04-16-2014 02:31 PM)VandyBen Wrote: Getting to 12 teams and a CCG is not as easy as it may seem, especially if the SBC wants to be choosey.

Despite travel, Idaho just became a very important element to the SBC 12 team stategy for 2015 and beyond.

I still don't totally understand everyone's dislike of having Idaho in the SBC. I know about the travel and conference footprints, etc.. But, really it's travel once every two years, if that. Is that really too much?

Deregulation of the CCG will come and then Idaho is no longer part of the strategy for the Sunbelt. With 8 conferences games, 10 team conference will work good. Then they could add an 11th team like Mo St some years down the road and not worry about getting to 12 teams. Without Idaho, divisions aren't a necessity.

(04-16-2014 02:31 PM)VandyBen Wrote: Getting to 12 teams and a CCG is not as easy as it may seem, especially if the SBC wants to be choosey.

Despite travel, Idaho just became a very important element to the SBC 12 team stategy for 2015 and beyond.

I still don't totally understand everyone's dislike of having Idaho in the SBC. I know about the travel and conference footprints, etc.. But, really it's travel once every two years, if that. Is that really too much?

It is a hassle. But not as horrible as advertised. No need to drop them just to be dropping them.

For 500K, the Sunbelt could have a championship game in 2014. Add UMass and work out a way to pay the 500K early exit fee to the MAC. They would probably be agreeable. MAC at 12. sB at 12. Split the fee and give UMass a 6 year agreement with a 3 year renew/cancel notice after 3 years. That gives UMass 4 extra years to get thier stuff together and allows the SB to dump them easily if a good prospect shows up on the radar. You may find it works best to keep them around and dump Idaho when a better prospect emerges.

It would be nice, now that JMU is definitely out of the picture, that Benson and company moved more quickly to make their offers. I'm sure all SBC fans are getting a bit tired of the waiting.

I know I'm an outsider, but still a fan of SBC as well as my own conference, but I've never quite understood why NMSU was not offered an all sports invite, although some of you posters have given me some insight. That being said, I know that all of you want the SBC to be the strongest possible league in all sports, and of all the scenarios I've seen, it would seem your best bet is UMass for football only and NMSU for all sports. I think that gives you a much stronger line up than either EKU or Liberty. There is not question that basketball would be served by adding NMSU, and I do get the football problems associated with both schools, but I think the upside of Umass in particular is greater than the completely untested FBS potential of EKU or Liberty. Plus, no waiting period on both. (I agree with the poster that suggested to pony up $500,000 exit fee for UMass.)

RE: Still sounds like Sun Belt is determined to go to 12 FB teams - Yosef Himself - 04-16-201404:20 PM

I still think the MoST is a possibility. They're in "Deny any talk have happened" mode right now. That's the first step in accepting an invitation.

MoSt. + Belmont (Oly) and that's a complete conference. Belmont could travel with App in Oly sports and it'd get another member for Soccer that was just reinstated.